The present invention relates to steering systems for lawn and garden tractors and more specifically relates to steering systems having input and output steering shafts mounted for oscillating about converging axes and respectively carrying bevel gears which are meshed with each other.
It is known in the prior art to provide steering systems of the above-noted type wherein the gearing is open, i.e., it is not enclosed in a case and only a single support plate is provided in the vicinity of the gears for maintaining proper positioning of the input and output shafts relative to each other. In this known design, the gears are pinned to their respective shaft, however, tolerances and wear result in the gears moving downwardly on their respective shafts from their intended operating positions which, by virtue of the convergence of the shafts, results in the teeth of the gears becoming wedged or jammed together such that they bind when a steering load is applied.